Oh how I miss Nadal teaching some humility to Olderer. Too bad no one is able to step up to the challenge even though the geezer is almost ready to have grandkids

Nothing nadal did to federer that federer didn't do to nadal.
except Maybe he has a positive H2H but this could be due to the fact that the bigger chunk of their matches was played on clay, which is indisputably the surface nadal OWNS.

Oh how I miss Nadal teaching some humility to Olderer. Too bad no one is able to step up to the challenge even though the geezer is almost ready to have grandkids

Stop overating current nadull. He hasn't won a title in more than 2 years. Fed beat him on slow HC.
He beat fed in AO but even if he didn't Novak would have beaten him.
People need to stop living in the past from April 08- Jan 09.

People are forgetting Roger might play Shanghai. There's also no guarantee Djokovic will do all that well.

I am not forgetting it at all, I count on it. I am convinced Roger will play Shanghai and probably skip Paris.

I think Novak will play everything and will have more chances to get points. Therefore I think it's important for Fed to be ahead in the race after the USO to have a chance at year end #1.

__________________8th day of July 2012: 7-time Wimbledon champion!

Once upon a time there was a myth about strong and weak eras. On this glorious day the clownery was eventually unmasked: 30 y.o. past-prime daddy Fed became #1 once again in the supposed strong "Spartan" era with his rivals at their peak.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Long live King Federer!

I honestly don't think Roger is concerned about the YE No.1 ranking since he took the all-time record from Sampras. 300 weeks are practically a lock at this moment.
And considering Nole's smart scheduling throughout career I wouldn't expect him to stretch his body just to regain the number one spot- Federer will loose this position next year anyway(too many points to defend for a 32-years old) and Novak stands as the only possible condidate to occupy his place.

I honestly don't think Roger is concerned about the YE No.1 ranking since he took the all-time record from Sampras. 300 weeks are practically a lock at this moment.
And considering Nole's smart scheduling throughout career I wouldn't expect him to stretch his body just to regain the number one spot- Federer will loose this position next year anyway(too many points to defend for a 32-years old) and Novak stands as the only possible condidate to occupy his place.

Federer currently only has 1000 points he needs to defend at 32, the rest he will defend at 31. Since 30 was not too old I don't see why 31 would have to be. Djokovic will also be a year older, and out of his official prime years of 22-25. While I don't see anyone else overtaking him because of it he could drop a notch in quality, making it easier for Federer to maintain the advantage.

And while the YE #1 might not be the highest priority, Federer is well aware of the fact that a sixth would tie the record. He likes records.

[quote=Litotes;12340748]Federer currently only has 1000 points he needs to defend at 32, the rest he will defend at 31. Since 30 was not too old I don't see why 31 would have to be. Djokovic will also be a year older, and out of his official prime years of 22-25. While I don't see anyone else overtaking him because of it he could drop a notch in quality, making it easier for Federer to maintain the advantage.

And while the YE #1 might not be the highest priority, Federer is well aware of the fact that a sixth would tie the record. He likes records.[/QUOTE]

Indeed he does. Infact, his motto is: "a record a day will keep the ageing away".

And while the YE #1 might not be the highest priority, Federer is well aware of the fact that a sixth would tie the record. He likes records.

Not even talking of records, finishing the year at number 1 at 31 years old in a very physical era and with such competitors as Djokovic, Nadal and Murray, even though they're not at their best (although in their prime years ), would be just incredible and would fully achieve the "back to youth" story at an old age which this year looks like for him.

And if you speak of records, no player has finished the year at number 1 after 30 years old since the creation of the ATP rankings (Agassi was number 1 at 33 years old but for 3 months only, and Connors did not finish the year at number 1 in 1982 : he won 2 slams but McEnroe got more points in other tournaments).

But it would be really meaningful only if he won the US Open (and anyway if Djokovic didn't win the US Open, because if ever Fed managed to achieve the number 1 whereas Djoko won the US Open, I don't think Fed would really feel as the number 1 and people would always contest a lot about that, which is not good for pleasure)

PS : thinking Fed is mostly drawn by records is wrong if you hear him and Paul Annacone correctly, he's mostly driven by the pleasure, the titles and the fans' love. He just says "it's nice" when people talk to him of a new record he's just achieved, it's just part of the pleasure but he's not obsessed about numbers.